Summit Dialogue, Ep. 3: Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel on the ‘Summit of the Americas’

This Series undertakes interviews with academics, policymakers and in particular former officials exploring the current and past architecture of summits and the state of global order policy-making. This podcast with Oliver Stuenkel is a full conversation exploring the hemispheric summit – the ‘Summit of the Americas’ and the regional politics of Latin America. Recently, leaders in the Western Hemisphere met for the 8th Summit of the Americas in Lima Peru. President Trump decided to avoid the Summit, the first American President to do so since this triennial meeting of leaders was inaugurated by President Bill Clinton. In fact, less than half the leaders showed. What does this poor attendance suggest about the state of regional relations? Equally, what does the crisis in Venezuela tell us about the state of relations and hemispheric concerns about democracy? The spotlight is on Latin America. The G20 is being hosted by the Argentinian Government. And there are important elections in the region, most notably in Brazil. The crisis in Venezuela is unlikely to end any time soon. Oliver is an associate professor of international relations at Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in Sao Paulo. There, with a number of his colleagues, he is launching a new School of International Relations. Oliver has written extensively on the politics of the rising powers, including his most recent for Polity, Post-Western World: How Emerging Powers are Remaking the Global Order. He is a frequent commentator on the Hemisphere in journals and in the media across the region.